


look at you (strawberry blond)

by touchofmidas



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Blushing, Confessions, Cute, First Kiss, First Meetings, Flirting, Fluff, Flustered Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, M/M, Meet-Cute, Mutual Pining, Nervousness, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Sharing a Bed, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, but dream is too so, george is a bit oblivious
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:21:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26962828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/touchofmidas/pseuds/touchofmidas
Summary: "Briefly, George wondered if Clay blushed like that all the time."(AKA George meets Dream for the first time in person and wonders why he'd never noticed how obvious the guy's feelings were.)
Relationships: Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF)
Comments: 40
Kudos: 563





	1. i love everybody (because i love you)

**Author's Note:**

> hello! this is my first fic for this fandom so uhhh yeah enjoy! it was honestly only gonna be one chapter, but then i started writing too much and the sections were breaking in weird places so i decided it'd be better as a multi chapter fic. whoops.
> 
> DISCLAIMER: i don't actually ship these two in real life. this is all for fun and if they ever say they're uncomfy with it this is gonna be immediately deleted.

George glanced down at his phone for the fifth time in the past minute. The empty screen stared back up at him and he closed the phone, letting out a nervous sigh. He scanned the area around the baggage claim with the same result. Dream was nowhere to be found. The younger man had said he was going to be late, profusely apologizing, but that had been at least 10 minutes ago. George was getting restless. His phone dinged and he immediately pulled his phone out to look.

_Sappitus Nappitus:  
dont worry he probably just woke up late lmao_

George glared at the phone as if the glare could make its way to Texas. Sapnap was probably right, but he still couldn’t help but feel like Dream was never going to come and he’d be stranded in a foreign airport with nowhere to stay. He let out a breath and scanned the airport again.

“Sorry! Sorry, please excuse me,” said a voice behind him, out of breath. George turned around to find a man clumsily stumbling through the crowd of people. The man had knocked over a poor lady’s suitcase and was hastily bending down to pick it up. “I’m so sorry! Really I’m sorry,” he apologized again, in a voice George would know anywhere.

George walked up to him as the lady reassured him that she was okay. The younger man ran a hand through his blonde hair and turned around so fast that he nearly slammed right into George.

“Holy shit, I am so sorry I-”

 _Wow,_ George thought lamely.

George was suddenly glad that his first time seeing Dream’s face was in person instead of on a video call. The man was beautiful. His blonde hair was falling back into place from where he had run his hand through it. His big gold (green) eyes were looking down at him, wide in shock. George, staring a little harder, noticed the light freckles splattered across his face. George gave a small smile, noticing the other man had gone silent.

“Hi, Clay.”

Clay’s face lit up like a stoplight and George had to stifle a laugh. He watched fondly as Clay lifted a hand to cover his face. “Hey, George.” Awkwardly, the blonde went in for the hug and George sighed into the crook of his neck, returning the hug and wrapping his arms around Clay’s waist.

George pulled back, not quite letting go. “You’re taller than I thought,” he stated dumbly, not quite knowing what to say. Clay wasn’t looking at him. The man was instead choosing to keep his gaze literally anywhere else.

“And you’re as short as I thought you’d be,” Clay joked.

With a smack to the younger man’s arm, George finally pulled away. “Yeah, yeah whatever,” he grabbed his abandoned luggage and gestured towards the exit. “Let's get out of here? Airports make me kind of nervous.”

Clay hurriedly grabbed George’s luggage right out of his hand, apologizing yet again for being late despite George’s constant reassurance that it was fine. They both rushed quickly to the parking garage and loaded George’s luggage in the trunk of Clay’s car.

“Okay! So, I don’t really have a plan for this week because this was kind of an impulsive thing,” Clay rambled as George fastened his seatbelt. “And my apartment is kind of a mess. I woke up really late and I was gonna clean this morning, but then it was like twenty minutes until I had to pick you up and the airport is a thirty-minute drive away so I couldn’t. I’m not even sure if I have any food in my fridge? We could stop by the store on the way home, but I’m sure you’re really tired and-”

“Clay,” George interrupted. The blonde went red in the face again. George chuckled lightly as Clay softly bumped his head against the steering wheel. “It’s okay. I don’t really mind all of that so there’s no need to be nervous.”

Clay turned and rested the side of his head on the wheel. “I just want this to be perfect,” he pouted.

“It will be regardless,” George smiled fondly. “I promise.”

Clay turned another brilliant shade of red and turned the key in the ignition.

\---

“Welcome to my humble abode, I guess,” Clay gestured to the small expanse of the room. George thought it was rather cozy. A small couch next to a small TV, a small kitchen, and a small hallway thought probably led to a small bedroom. It was cute.

Clay led him towards a door down the hallway. “Here’s my room,” he said as he opened the door. “It's where you’ll be sleeping.”

There was a queen-size bed in the center of the room with Clay’s computer setup pushed to the far corner of the room. George took notice of the soft blue sheets with a smile. “And where will you be sleeping?”

“Uhh, the couch?” Clay replied.

George furrowed his brow slightly. “You’re bed’s big enough for the two of us, isn’t it?” he questioned. “I don’t want you to ruin your back on the couch. I don’t mind sharing the bed.”

“S-Sure!” Clay yelped. George turned back in confusion as the younger man’s voice rose an octave. “As long as you don’t mind.” Laughing awkwardly, Clay set George’s luggage down on the bed. “Go ahead and get unpacked. I’ll be in the kitchen when you’re all done.” With that, he turned around and quickly slammed the door shut.

 _Weirdo_ , George smiled.

Now George knew how fond he was of the other man, really he did. Even though he’d only had a voice and nothing else these past few years, he’d managed to become fast and best friends with Clay. The many late-night calls and streams together eventually led to George having a little crush on him. Which then stumbled into a fully-fledged crush on the blonde. And now that George was here in Florida? His feelings were even more present than before.

Being able to see Clay react to him in real life was interesting as well.

The guy was clearly nervous about this whole meetup, as was George, but he couldn’t seem to stop tripping over his words and turning bright red. Briefly, George wondered if Clay blushed like that all the time. Blushing himself, he quickly set his suitcase aside and made his way to the kitchen where Clay was apparently cooking dinner.

George noticed he was humming.

He didn’t quite recognize the song, but he stood back and listened anyway. He watched Clay as he mixed a few spices into whatever was simmering in the pot, swaying while he did so. The blonde danced around the kitchen pulling a packet of spaghetti out of a cupboard and sticking a bunch of noodles in a separate pot, humming away the entire time.

George decided to make his presence known and cleared his throat. He laughed as Clay jumped and the entire bag of spaghetti noodles fell into the pot. “Sorry, sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Clay stubbornly kept his eyes on the pasta. “How long were you standing there?”

“Not that long,” George admitted. “Lovely performance, though.”

Clay blew a piece of hair out of his eyes. “You’re so mean to me, George.” Together they finished their dinner which was just spaghetti with red sauce. Clay tried to apologize for the lame dish, but George stopped him before he could say anything and they finished their meals.

Clay plopped down on the couch and switched on the TV. “I was thinking we could just stay in today?” he ventured. “I know you’re probably a little jet-lagged so we can just watch a movie or something.”

George hummed in agreement and sat down next to him. “You can pick.”

They ended up watching some random action movie. Even through the loud noises and explosions, George could feel himself falling asleep. His eyes were getting harder and harder to keep open. 

_Hmm,_ he thought, _no harm in trying._

He let his head fall onto Clay’s shoulder and prayed the other man wouldn’t say anything about it. George could feel him physically tense underneath him. Immediately regretting his decision, he began to lift his head up.

“No, no! You’re fine, it's okay,” Clay reassured. George blinked at him sleepily. The poor man was blushing again. He really never seemed to stop, did he?

Too sleepy to care, George returned to his shoulder pillow. Falling asleep to the sounds of the movie and Clay’s steady breathing.


	2. when you stood up (walked away barefoot)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All it takes is a walk in the park and a push from Sapnap for George to realize a few things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello again! glad you all liked the last chapter <3 thanks for leaving all the comments and kudos! i'm pretty happy since this is my first work for dnf. thank you!!! heads up, this fic is probably gonna have like 4 chapters total so i'll be getting those out daily.
> 
> also i just realized that ive been writing about dream blushing and george noticing right away but uhh ig i forgot he was color blind for a second. hopefully i've been vague enough that it sounds like he's describing dream's face getting a darker yellow lmao.
> 
> DISCLAIMER: once again, i don't actually ship dream and george irl. if they say they're not okay with fanfic being written i will delete this immediately!

Waking up in bed was a strange thing.

The sun was shining calmly through the blinds on the windows. The window itself was cracked open slightly, letting a soft breeze into the room. George sighed contently and nestled further into the blankets, fully ready to go back to sleep.

Wait.

His eyes shot back open as he looked at his surroundings. The clock on the bedside read 1:10 pm, there was an empty space next to him, and _he was in Clay’s bed._

He vaguely remembered falling asleep on the couch watching that movie. Had Clay carried him here? He ducked his face behind the blanket even though there was no one in the room to watch him freak out. Clay really wasn’t making this crush any easier to get over with how absolutely adorable he was being. At this rate, George was going to spontaneously combust.

A knock at the door jolted him from his thoughts. A head of blonde hair poked itself through the crack in the door. “Oh, you’re awake. Good morning. Or afternoon I guess,” Clay grinned. “I figured I’d let you sleep in, but not too long. Do you feel like going out today?”

George stretched and hummed in agreement. “I should be fine,” he sat up slowly and blinked the sleep from his eyes. “What would we be doing?”

Clay rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “I was just thinking we could go down to the lake? There’s a farmer’s market there. That’s boring, isn’t it? It’s a lot of walking too, I don’t know if you’re up for that. Sorry, it’s so lame, oh god-”

George let out a fond laugh. “Hey, it’s alright. I’d love to go to whatever lake this is.” He watched as Clay ran a hand down his face, letting out an exhale.

“I keep overthinking things don’t I?” he admitted shakily.

George hoped his face had a comforting look on it. “A little bit yeah,” he responded. “But that’s okay. I was a little nervous about this trip too.”

Clay flicked his gaze up to meet George’s. “Yeah?”

George chuckled at the relief in his friend’s voice. The blonde was like a puppy. “Yeah. I’ll get ready and then we can head out, okay?” Clay nodded and said he’d make George a super quick breakfast before they left the apartment, leaving George on his own in the room again.

He freshened up quickly and quietly made his way into the kitchen again. Clay was leaning against the counter on his phone, a plate of pancakes sitting in front of him. George couldn’t help the smile on his face when he noticed the glass of apple juice placed next to it. “This is a ‘super quick breakfast?’” he said, taking a sip of the apple juice.

Clay smiled sheepishly. “I’d already had them kind of ready by the time I went to wake you up.”

George made a happy noise as he ate the pancakes. He knew that they were made from a mix, but somehow he thought they tasted better. George himself never really made anything back at home. He usually just ordered out or made some sort of instant food. “Mmm,” he grinned. “Tastes good.”

Clay quickly glanced back down at his phone, face coloring. “It’s nothing really,” he mumbled. “Just some quick pancakes.”

“Thanks for making them, though,” George replied. “And uhh, thanks for carrying me to bed last night. You _did_ do that, right?”

Clay fumbled and nearly dropped his phone on the kitchen tile. “Um, uh, yeah that was me. I mean who else could it have been, right? Not like it was Patches or something. That’d be really weird,” he took an awkward breath. “Yeah, I did."

George gave him a quizzical look as he finished his pancakes. “That’s all you had to say, Clay,” the man in question hid his face in his hands. “It’s okay, you know? I don’t mind. If anything I’m concerned that you had to carry my ass all the way to the bedroom.”

Clay wheezed slightly, a smile slipping onto his face. “You’re not that heavy, don’t worry.”

George grinned back at him. “You’re just freakishly strong, Mr. Six-Foot-Three,” he teased. Clay wheezed in earnest. “How’s the weather up there, giant?” George laughed along as he felt Clay calm down. He wondered why he was acting so nervous around him, but George supposed they’d never technically hung out before. Maybe he was always like this.

George found himself distracted by Clay’s laugh and didn’t think of it anymore.

\---

 _This is torture,_ George thought, and said so.

Clay chuckled. “Yeah maybe coming to Florida during the summertime was a bad idea,” he admitted. “It's all humidity, trust me. It’s not really that hot.”

“Thanks, Clay,” he grumbled. “That helps a lot. I feel cooler already.” He punched the younger man in the arm lightly as they continued their walk through the park. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw them.

“Ducklings, Dream!”

George quickly, but quietly so as to not disturb them, made his way over to the edge of the lake. There was a little flock of ducklings swimming by the shore. Curious, they made their way towards the British man in search of food. George all but melted. They were surrounding his feet as he crouched by the shore. “I’m sorry, you sweet little things,” he cooed. “I don’t have any seeds or anything.” He laughed as they pecked at his shoelaces.

He turned back to find Clay and saw that the man had his phone out and was taking pictures of him. Before he could say anything the blonde started fumbling with his phone again, nearly dropping it. “I-I’m, I’m just taking a few pictures f-for Sapnap,” he stuttered, face darkening again. “He’s asking how we’re doing.”

George gave him a look and gestured for him to come closer. Clay looked like he was about to keel over and die from embarrassment, but he moved closer anyways. He crouched down next to George and the ducklings, curious, started pecking at his shoes as well.

George pointed to the one that was tugging at his shoelace rather violently. “I’ve named this one Tommy.”

Clay barked out a laugh. “Yeah?” He pointed at the smallest duckling in the bunch. “This one’s you, George,” he wheezed as George smacked his arm. He pointed at a bigger duck, watching the ducklings close by. Definitely the mom. “That one’s Philza.”

George grinned. “True.”

They continued on and their walk led them to a small little farmer’s market. George dragged Clay to every stand they came across. From fruits to flowers, they had it all. They even bought some produce to fill up Clay’s nearly empty fridge.

“I’ll be right back,” Clay said, handing George the bags. “I’ve gotta use the bathroom.”

George nodded in acknowledgment and then he was left alone on foreign ground. Pulling out his phone, he decided to text Sapnap.

 _Me:  
yo sapnap_

_Sappitus Nappitus:  
finally decided to text me back after a day i see  
loser_

_Me:  
:P jet lag, rude ass_

_Sappitus Nappitus:  
are u sure dream isnt the one distracting u loverboy? ;)_

George could physically feel his face getting redder. Maybe telling Sapnap about his little crush was a mistake. Not because he thought the younger boy would say anything to Dream, but because he got nothing but constant teasing out of him.

_Me:  
shut the hell ur mouth  
if anything hes the one distracting himself  
is he always so shy?_

_Sappitus Nappitus:  
shy?_

_Me:  
hes like  
constantly getting really flustered  
maybe hes just different irl???  
its cute tho im not complaining_

The typing icon appeared for at least a whole minute. George sincerely hoped his friend wasn’t typing out an entire essay for him to read.

_Sappitus Nappitus:  
so youre not just color blind  
youre fully blind_

_Me:  
???_

_Sappitus Nappitus:  
figure it out dumbass_

He blinked down at his phone. Figure it out? What the hell did that mean? Before he could think too hard on it, however, a voice rang out behind him.

“Hey! You on the phone there.”

George turned around to find an older woman running a flower stand. She was gesturing at him to come closer and, while hesitant, he moved towards her. After all, it was just a farmer’s market. No harm in checking out the things they were selling. “Hello,” he greeted.

The lady’s eyes sparkled brightly. “Ooo, a foreigner,” she replied. “England? That’s pretty far. You here for that pretty blonde boy that was with you earlier?”

George laughed and nodded. “Yeah, I’m here visiting him.”

The old woman tsked at him. “Long-distance must be hard, huh?” she muttered, concerned. George’s face must’ve gone red because the lady let out a chuckle. Before he could even correct her misjudgment, she shoved a flower pot into his hands. It was full of camellias. “Here you go, sweetheart. Something to give him to remember you by. On the house."

George gaped at the woman. “I can’t. How much is it?”

The woman shook her head. “Nope! On the house. And that’s final,” she smiled kindly. “To be young and in love. I remember those days.” She gestured behind him. “Now go on.”

He turned around to find Clay looking for him where he’d left. He quickly thanked the woman before hurrying back to his friend. Clay breathed a sigh of relief as he approached. “I thought you got lost or something,” he said. “Florida’s a big place and you’re a foreigner. What if someone kidnapped you? I wouldn’t know what to do with myse-”

George abruptly shoved the flowers into the younger man’s hands.

Clay shut up immediately, eyes wide. “Are these…?” he trailed off.

“Um,” George looked anywhere, but Clay’s face. “Yeah, they’re for you. The lady over at the flower stand said I could have them,” he explained. “You can put them in your apartment if you want to. To, um, remember me by.”

At this point, George was positive that he was even redder than Clay

A glance at his friend’s face showed that he was most certainly wrong. George could practically see steam rising off Clay’s face. He was clearly trying to form words, but nothing was coming out.

_Cute._

He chuckled at Clay’s reaction. “What color are they?” he asked, choosing to change the subject slightly.

“Um, uh,” Clay blinked at him. “They’re, uh, they’re purple, red, and pink.”

George giggled. “Of course. All colors I can’t see,” he gave the flowers a sniff, leaning closer to the other man. “They smell very nice though. I hope you like them?”

Clay squeaked. “I love them.”

George gave Clay a once over. He definitely _was_ acting weird, right? Sapnap apparently thought the answer was obvious. He glanced back over at the flower lady behind them. She sent an excited thumbs up his way and he waved back. He felt his face heat up remembering her mistake. She thought Clay was his boyfriend.

 _I wish,_ George thought, before shaking the thought out of his mind. Clay was his friend and he didn’t want to mess up their friendship.

He looked back at Clay’s face and really thought for a minute.

The blonde was staring at the flowers, his face darkened with blush. George thought back to earlier when he got flustered over the pancakes and even earlier during the airport fiasco. He was kind of like a lovestruck teen.

A thought entered his mind. Was it possible that Clay liked him back? Surely George would’ve noticed over the course of their friendship, right? He wasn’t _that_ blind. He thought back to his conversation with Sapnap, meeting Clay’s gaze.

A shy grin found its way to the younger man’s face. “Thank you, George,” he mumbled softly. Too softly. It was the tone George took on when talking with _him._

George swore he could literally hear Sapnap saying, “I told you so,” all the way from Texas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! see yall tmr! <3

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed that first chapter! i'll try to get the next one out as soon as i can. <3


End file.
